John Hattie, director of the research institute at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (based at one of Australia's top ranked universities, Melbourne University). His research is interesting and has shown that class size matters, but teacher technique matters more. In a media interview he explains: "Many simply can't accept that small class sizes shouldn't be a top priority. Professor Hattie surprises them with his research, which found teachers talk more in small classes. "All the things that you think would be better in small classes, it's the opposite. Rather, it's, 'They're going to listen to me better'," he says. "If you take a teacher of [a] class of 30 and put them in a class of 15, they teach the same way. Now what that says to me is that if you are going to reduce class sizes you need to reteach the teachers."
From:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/e...hought-20120309-1upjx.html#ixzz1xHHT0BKB(I could only find PowerPoints of his research, or media commentary but I haven't had a chance to look in any journal databases.)
